This invention relates to an interactive cable broadcast network and a system to request data/video/services from a cable provider.
Cable television systems have been installed throughout the world since the 1950""s, and the popularity of the services is continually increasing. With over 11,000 cable systems in the United States that pass by 95% of all dwellings and have a subscriber penetration of 63%, there are over 60 million households that are connected and subscribe to cable TV. Cable television was initially designed to transport a large bandwidth of video information from a central headend to a large community of users. The cable system consists of five basic units: (1) the cable headend (the signal reception, origination, and modulation point); (2) the main, coaxial trunk (or tree) cable that runs through central streets in communities; (3) the coaxial distribution (branch) cable to the customer""s neighborhood, including distribution taps; (4) subscriber drops to the house; and (5) subscriber terminal equipment (television, converter, VCR, etc.)
Interactive multimedia services are also on the rise with such applications as impulse-pay-per-view (for movies and sports events), home shopping, and Internet access now available to home and business users. Newer cable systems are being designed and implemented with two-way capability in which a section of the cable bandwidth has been allocated for upstream (i.e. user to cable provider) transmission. However, over 75% of the 11,000 or so cable systems in the United States are only capable of one-way service, and the new interactive options require an alternate upstream request backlink channel in order to make requests for data/video/services.
Currently, new cable systems are being deployed with a two-way capability built into their infrastructure, and most of the older cable systems with one-way only are making long range plans for upgrading to a two-way capability. However, the upgrade is expensive and is expected to take five to ten years to complete. The primary means of making an upstream request is by connecting the cable set-top-box or cable modem to a telephone line and dialing out to the cable provider. The problem with this setup is that it ties up the user""s telephone line when interactive services are needed and that the cable provider is required to maintain a bank of telephone lines to accommodate all of the users that simultaneously utilize an interactive service.
The objective of this invention is to provide an alternate communication path for the upstream request channel for one-way cable systems that will alleviate the need for a telephone connection at the subscriber""s location and also lessen the immediacy to upgrade to a two-way capability. In addition, the implementation of this invention will have minimal impact or changes on existing one-way cable systems.
This invention utilizes the two-way cable set-top-boxes and cable modems that are being manufactured and distributed to customers of two-way cable systems. The two-way cable devices are used with this invention to pass request information upstream, out of the house and onto the local distribution network. These upstream request signals are received and collected at a local upstream hub where they are retransmitted over an alternate communication path such as a satellite link, terrestrial wireless, or telephone line (POTS, ISDN, T1, etc.). The local upstream hubs will be located at the junction point of several branches in the distribution chain, prior to any of the cable hardware that precludes two-way operation such as distributor amplifiers. In this manner, one local upstream hub center can service several dozen households or more depending on the density of the households served and the structure of the cable system. The use of this invention bypasses the main cable trunk and most of the distribution system, therefore alleviating the need for upgrading to a two-way system.
Data security (e.g., encryption, etc.) may be handled over the combination of the backlink and broadcast channels or by occasional calls (via modem) to the cable provider to update security parameters (e.g., keys, passwords, etc.)